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A Comparative Analysis of Quality of Work Life among the Employees of Local Private and Foreign Commercial Banks in Bangladesh
Ayesha Tabassum*, Tasnuva Rahman** and Kursia Jahan***
About four decades have passed since the phrase Quality of Work Life (QWL) was first introduced. But in Bangladesh it is still a new concept to emerge. No initiative was taken to identify whether there is any significant difference among the employees of the local private commercial banks and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. Thus the study aims to make a comparative learning of the existing QWL between the employees of the local private and foreign commercial banks through quantitative survey on 50 local and 50 foreign banks employees. The study reveals that a significant difference exists between the local private and foreign commercial banks employees perception over QWL and in the following factors of QWL; adequate and fair compensation, work and total life space, opportunity to develop human capacities, flexible work schedule and job assignment, and employee relations.
Keywords: Quality of work life, local private commercial banks, foreign commercial banks, Bangladesh. Field of Research: Human Resource Management.
1. Introduction
Quality of work life (QWL) is a philosophy, a set of principles, which holds that people are the most important resource in the organization as they are trustworthy, responsible and capable of making valuable contribution and they should be treated with dignity and respect (Straw & Heckscher 1984). QWL encompasses mode of wages payment, working conditions, working time, health hazards issue, financial and non-financial benefits and management behavior towards employees (Islam & Siengthai 2009). According to Gadon (1984), QWL programs have two objectives: (a) to enhance productivity and (b) to increase the satisfaction of employees. Thus QWL provides healthier, satisfied and productive employees, which in turn provides efficient and profitable organization (Sadique 2003). The reason behind choosing banking sector for this study is that it plays an important role in our economy. After the liberation war, the government of Bangladesh put in a constant effort to booster our countrys banking sector. Banks have grown so extensively that it now plays a significant part in the economy. With the opening up of the economy of Bangladesh, dramatic change has been observed in the banking sector
_______________________ * Ayesha Tabassum, Lecturer, Faculty of Business Administration, Eastern University, House No. 15/2, Road No. 3, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1215. E-mail: tabassum@easternuni.edu.bd **Tasnuva Rahman, Lecturer, Faculty of Business Administration, Eastern University, House No. 15/2, Road No. 3, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1215. E-mail: tasnuva_miti@yahoo.com ***Kursia Jahan, Lecturer, Faculty of Business Administration, Eastern University, House No. 15/2, Road No. 3, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1215. E-mail: kursia.jahan@gmail.com
3. Literature Review
3.1 QWL and its Dimensions The evolution of QWL began in late 1960s emphasizing the human dimensions of work that was focused on the quality of the relationship between the worker and the working environment (Rose et al 2006). QWL is a concept of behavioral scientist, and the term was first introduced by Davis at the Forty-Third American Assembly on the Changing World of Work at Columbia University's Arden House. The selected participants assembled there concluded in their final remarks that improving the place, the organization, and the nature of work can lead to better work performance and a better quality of life in the society. (Gadon 1984, Wyatt & Wah 2001, Sadique 2003, Rose et al. 2006, Islam & Siengthai 2009). Since the phrase was found the method of defining QWL varied and encompassed several different perspectives (Loscocco & Roschelle 1991). It is difficult to best conceptualize the QWL elements (Seashore 1975). Walton (1975) proposed eight major conceptual categories relating to QWL as (1) adequate and fair compensation, (2) safe and healthy working conditions, (3) immediate opportunity to use and develop human capacities, (4) opportunity for continued growth and security, (5) social integration in the work organization, (6) constitutionalism in the work organization, (7) work and total life space and (8) social relevance of work life. According to Gadon (1984), QWL efforts include the areas of personal and professional 19
4. Methodology
4.1 Development of the Measuring Instruments According to Loscocco and Roschelle (1991), the most common assessment of QWL is the individual attitudes. This is because individual work attitudes are important indicators of QWL. The ways that people respond to their jobs have consequences for their personal happiness and the effectiveness of their work organizations (Rose et al 2006). Thus a structured questionnaire was designed based on the literature review for achieving the objectives of the study as questionnaire survey is arguably the most common technique in management research (Veal 2005). The following eight components of QWL are considered for the study. Adequate and fair compensation Work and total life space Opportunity for continuous growth and job security Opportunity to develop human capacities Safe & healthy working environment Flexible Work Schedule and job assignment Attention to job design Employee relations As indicated in the literature review, several authors and researchers (Walton 1975, Havlovic 1991, Sadique 2003, Royuela, Tamayo & Suriach 2007, Islam & Siengthai 2009) considered the above mentioned components or factors as the determinants of QWL. The questionnaire used in the survey consisted of two sections. The first section, including 49 statements, was designed to measure the perception by bank employees on QWL issues. Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement on each 21
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5. Hypotheses Development
The hypotheses are developed based on the literature review and objectives of the study. The null hypothesis is stated below. H0: There is no difference between the median perception of QWL of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. The H 0 is broken down in some sub-hypotheses. These are stated below in the form of null hypotheses. H0.1: There is no difference between the median perception about adequate and fair compensation of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. H0.2: There is no difference between the median perception about work and total life space of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. H0.3: There is no difference between the median perception about opportunity for continuous growth and job security of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. H0.4: There is no difference between the median perception about opportunity to develop human capacities of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. H0.5: There is no difference between the median perception about safe & healthy working environment of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. H0.6: There is no difference between the median perception about flexible work schedule and job assignment of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. H0.7: There is no difference between the median perception about attention to job design of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh. H0.8: There is no difference between the median perception about employee relations of the employees of local private and foreign commercial banks in Bangladesh.
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26.9 73.1
6.2 Internal Consistency Analysis and Factor Analysis Cronbach alpha reliability test is conducted within each dimensions of QWL. A Cronbach alpha of 0.60 or higher is the minimum acceptable level for a study that has 24
6.3 Correlation between QWL and its dimensions The objective of the study was to examine the existence, feature and extent of the linear relationship exists between QWL and its different dimensions. Table 3 shows value of the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient between QWL and its dimensions and the corresponding p-values. Table 3: Analysis of Spearmans Correlation between QWL and its Dimension
Quality of Work Life Dimensions of Quality of Work Life Spearman Correlation Coefficient 0.676** 0.768** 0.809** 0.812** 0.851** 0.782** 0.719** 0.812** Significance Level (2 tailed) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Adequate and fair compensation Work and total life space Opportunity for continuous growth and job security Opportunity to develop human capacities Safe & healthy working environment Flexible Work Schedule and job assignment Attention to job design Employee relations ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
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Table 4 illustrates that for all the 8 dimensions, median satisfaction of employee of foreign bank is greater than their counter part i.e. employees of local private bank. Though none of the difference is radically high, an inherent inequity is obvious. The median response of the employee- both in local and foreign private bank also offers the feature that the level of satisfaction slightly slides above the actual satisfactory line. The variation of the two variables also offers another characteristic the fluctuation in statement of local bank employee is less than the foreign bank employees except the issue on attention to job design. So, the insight and views of local bank employee are more homogeneous than that of the foreign bank employees. 6.5 Comparison of the Distribution of QWL The estimated results has revealed that, the middle-most level of QWL for foreign bank employee are greater than that of the local bank employee (see Table 5) though the most frequent response of the employees follow the reverse pattern. Again, the distribution pattern of QWL of foreign bank employee is more spread and diverse compare to the local bank employee QWL as both standard deviation and range gain greater value for the formers. The distribution of both QWL for local private bank and the foreign bank employee has appeared as negatively skewed i.e. skewed to the left and also the kurtosis, in both
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The Box-plot diagram also suggests these dissimilarities of the distributions (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Box-plot Diagram for QWL among local bank employee and foreign bank employee
The Box-plot diagram also suggests these dissimilarities of the distributions (see Figure 1). The frequencies of local bank employees perception are mostly distributed above the median whereas those of foreign bank employees are almost equally distributed above and below the median line. The median QWL for foreign bank is clearly sited higher than the median QWL for local private bank employee.
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44.98 56.02 43.67 57.33 49.28 51.72 42.54 58.46 47.74 53.26 44.02 56.98 47.28 53.72 45.43 55.57 43.98 57.02
2249.00 2801.00 2183.50 2866.50 2464.00 2586.00 2127.00 2923.00 2387.00 2663.00 2201.00 2849.00 2364.00 2686.00 2271.50 2778.50 2199.00 2851.00
908.50
2183.50
-2.368
.018
Opportunity for continuous growth and job security Opportunity to develop human capacities Safe & healthy working environment
1189.00
2464.00
-.424
.671
852.00
2127.00
-2.758
.006
1112.00
2387.00
-.955
.340
926.00
2201.00
-2.244
.025
1089.00
2364.00
-1.117
.264
996.50
2271.50
-1.760
.078
Employee relations
924.00
2199.00
-2.247
.025
** Median Difference is significant at the 0.10 level (2-tailed). * Median Difference is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
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References
Ahmad, S & Khanal, DR 2007, Services Trade in Developing Asia: A case study of the Banking and Insurance Sector in Bangladesh, Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade, Working Paper Series No. 38. Arts, EJ, Kerksta, J & Zee, VD 2001, Quality of working life and workload in home help, Nordic College of Caring Sciences, pp. 12-22. Campion, MA, Medsker, GJ & Higgs, AC 1993, Relationship between Work Group Characteristics and Effectiveness: Implications for Designing Effective Work Groups, Personnel Psychology, vol. 46, pp. 823-850. Elias, MS & Saha, NK 2005, Environmental Pollution and Quality of Working Life in Tobacco Industries, Journal of Life Earth Science, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 21-24. Evans, A & Vernon, K 2007, WorkLife Balance in Hong Kong: Case Studies, Community Business, vol. 2007, no. June. Fisher, CD, Schoenfeldt, LF, Shaw, JB 2004, Human Resources Management. Biztantra, New Delhi. Gadon, H 1984, Making Sense of Quality of Work Life Programs, Business Horizons, no. January-February, pp. 42-46. Hanlon, MD & Gladstein, DL 1984, Improving the Quality of Work Life in Hospitals: A Case Study, Hospital Health Service Administration, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 94-107. Havlovic, SJ 1991, Quality of Work Life and Human Resource Outcomes, Industrial Relations, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 469-479. Hill, EJ, Hawkins, AJ, Ferris, M & Weitzman, M 2001, Finding an Extra Day a Week: The Positive Influence of Perceived Job Flexibility on Work and Family Life Balance, Family Relations, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 49-58. Hoque, ME & Rahman, A 1999, Quality of working life & Job Behaviour of Workers in Bangladesh: a comparative study of private and public sectors, Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 175-184. Hossain, MM & Islam, MT 1991, QWL & Job Satisfaction of GVT Hospital Nurses in Bangladesh, Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 35, no. 3. Islam, MZ & Siengthai, S 2009, Quality of work life and organizational performance: Empirical evidence from Dhaka Export Processing Zone, paper presented to ILO Conference on Regulating for Decent Work, Geneva.
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